


Bend

by sanctuary_for_all



Series: Partners [2]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Established Relationship, Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Protective Danny "Danno" Williams, Steve McGarrett Has Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-27 13:52:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18740353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctuary_for_all/pseuds/sanctuary_for_all
Summary: It was never really about how tall the showerhead was. It was, like most non-Grace-related things in Danny's life, really all about Steve.





	Bend

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, I don't know what to tell you, except that only I could write a fic about showering together and make it this unsexy. This is a flashback fic for the series, but its placement is due to the first bit. The later sections are still pretty early in the series, but scattered over the following weeks.

Initially, Danny wasn't even going to try showering with Steve. Sure, he'd just woken up to the best sex of his entire life, after an entire evening of more of the same, and felt soppily romantic enough about Steve in general that there was probably a risk of poetry at some point. Love mostly veered between stress and abject misery, at least in his experience, but a world where Steve felt about him the same way he felt about Steve made him feel better than drugs.

But he knew from experience with a college girlfriend that tall person + short person + simultaneous showering = terrible idea. One person ended up cold while the other (i.e. him) got a face full of water. And he knew from experience with Rachel that showering together usually meant less hot, wet morning sex and more awkwardly sharing a small space with someone who also had important things they needed to be doing. Barring a few fortunate incidents, it wasn't exactly conducive to romance.

So when Steve stepped into the shower that morning, naked and far hotter than should be acceptable under the basic laws of physics, Danny had distracted himself by starting breakfast. Steve was out before he'd gotten out all the ingredients for the batter, and then they were _both_ so distracted they nearly burnt the pancakes. Danny never did get his shower in that day, but Steve never seemed to mind and it was better not to wash your hair every day anyway.

That night, Steve's territorial Neanderthal gene activated and he dragged Danny over to his house so he could grill him something. Once again, they spent most of the evening christening various parts of the house, with breaks for recovering from said christenings, and welcomed the morning with a long, lazy session in bed.

When Steve finally got up to shower, Danny stayed where he was for about 20 seconds before his brain immediately began questioning all his life choices. Yes, this was Steve's shower, which meant it was undoubtedly designed for freakish giants rather than reasonably-sized people, but _Steve_ was in there. Naked. Wet. But with how fast Steve showered, he wouldn't be in there long.

Besides, this was probably the only way he was going to have enough willpower to shower before they went to pick up Grace on Monday

The rest of Danny decided this was a magnificently persuasive argument. He was, conveniently, already naked, so he headed straight for the bathroom and slipped in through the other side of the curtain. Belatedly realizing that Steve's startle reflex might be injury-inducing, he decided at the last minute that surprise might not be the best option. "So, babe, I was hoping I— Why the hell is your shower so short?"

Steve, who had just barely had all 6'1'' of his SuperSEAL-sized self ducked under a shower head that was _the same height_ as the one at Danny's house. He'd turned right around the time Danny had switched sentence, surprise, pleasure and confusion all chasing each other across his face. "I'm pretty sure it's a normal-sized shower."

That was not at _all_ the relevant part of the question. "Probably, but _you_ are a freakishly tall SuperSEAL."

He set down the _bar of soap_ he had apparently been using on his hair, which would normally be enough to kick off a rant about proper haircare. At the moment, though, he had more important things to worry about. "My dad was only 5'8." Mom always used to say I got my height from her dad."

The matter-of-factness in his voice was both absolutely insane and wildly unsurprising. "Fine, but you've been living here for _three_ years. Why haven't you switched the showerhead out for one that actually _fits_ you? Are you seriously _that_ used to casual suffering?"

Now Steve was back to looking confused by the entire conversation. "It's not that big of a deal. I'm usually out of the shower in a couple of minutes anyway."

"But those could be a couple of minutes where you were actually _comfortable_!"

Now the confusion shifted to fond exasperation. "Are you seriously going to keep arguing about this _now_ , or are you going to come in here and take advantage of the fact that we're both naked?"

As counterarguments went, it was an excellent one. Danny stepped into the shower, Steve pulled him closer, and all talk about practicalities and casual suffering was immediately forgotten.

000

Of course, that forgetting didn't exactly work long-term. Because their strange rhythm quickly started working as well in the shower as it did anywhere else, and what should have been awkward as hell turned out to be both weirdly more efficient and surprisingly fun. Even when they didn't have time for orgasms, the opportunity to have entertaining conversations with _and_ casually fondle your favorite person was something not to be missed.

Unsurprisingly, Steve's showers got considerably longer.

But the more time they spent in the shower together, the more Danny had to watch Steve squeeze himself into the too short space underneath the shower head. When he got moved into Steve's house it only made it worse, since Danny couldn't stop thinking about the fact that he'd been squeezing himself into that space for _years_ without thinking about it. Without taking five minutes to try and make his life a little bit easier, even in a way as simple as this. Like his own comfort was so irrelevant that the thought had never even _occurred_ to him.

Steve got quite good at distracting him from the mid-shower rants – his naked kissing/stroking combo should classify as an actual _weapon_ – but there was still plenty of fully-clothed free time to obsess about it. A part of him was tempted to just buy something and install it into the shower himself, even though that would make mornings more challenging for his own reasonably-sized self. His whole life had improved enough, overall, that he could deal with mornings being slightly more annoying.

But the really important thing here wasn't even the showerhead. It was making Steve understand that he didn't always have to just _deal_ with things, bending himself to squeeze into whatever space was already there. No matter how bad things had been before, his life had changed.

Danny was going to damn well make sure of it.

So, during a quiet moment at work one day, he called Steve around to look at the list of purchase options on his computer screen. "While _I_ would prefer one of the double shower heads, which will at least get me all wet in addition to drowning me, I do know how much you enjoy being difficult." He pointed to one of the options. "This curvy pipe thing would let you accomplish that, with the added bonus of giving us a shower that actually _fit_ you."

Steve, perched on the edge of Danny's desk, somehow combined amusement, exasperation, and genuine bafflement into the same expression. "I honestly don't understand why you're so bothered by the shower. It's exactly the right size for you."

"Which only highlights how poorly sized it is for _you_." Danny leaned forward, poking Steve in the thigh for emphasis. "If you'd had the good sense to do this years before you moved me into your house, then rest assured that all my complaints would be in the opposite direction. But now, the sheer injustice of the situation is overwhelming any considerations of personal comfort."

Steve quirked an eyebrow. "This isn't an injustice, Danny. It's a shower."

"No, it's you thinking that what _you_ need doesn't matter." Steve looked startled, and Danny's chest went tight as he curved his hand protectively around Steve's thigh. "This is about you being so used to just suffering along with what's happening that you don't even _think_ about trying to make things easier for yourself." His voice was a hell of a lot more intense than showerheads deserved, but he couldn't have stopped himself if he tried. "I know this isn't really a big thing. But every time I watch you duck under that stupid showerhead, I can't help but think of all the big things that you had to suffer through before I got here."

Steve looked like he was about to cry, but it was the happy kind of crying. He swallowed, nodding the way people did when they'd finally been convinced of something. "Okay." He leaned forward, pulling Danny's head close enough to press a kiss against his hair. When he pulled back, his eyes were wet. "We'll get a new showerhead. But it's got to work for you, too."

Danny took Steve's hand in his, a weird sort of relief unfurling in his chest. "I think we can manage that."

000

_Later, after several online shopping debates and a trip to Home Depot..._

"You missed a spot." Danny lifted the hand-held showerhead up over Steve's hair, angling it just right to get the small patch of bubbles behind his head. "Actual shampoo lathers up more than soap does."

"I can tell." Steve's lips curved as he gets the spot, then takes the showerhead so Danny can start rinsing his own hair. "Which is why I was fine using soap all those years."

"You may have been fine with it, but your hair wasn't." Danny tilted his head back as Steve shifted the showerhead accordingly. By this point, they were both so good at it that neither of them ever got a face full of water they didn't intend on. "You're just lucky I'm not enough of a masochist to try and introduce you to conditioner."

"I'll leave that to you." Steve's voice had taken on a husky edge, and the water left Danny's hair to travel further down his body. Steve's other hand started traveling downward as well, taking a long, wet path to get there. Danny happily abandoned efficiency as he leaned back into him, sliding his own soapy hand back around Steve's body.

It ended up being quite awhile before he finished rinsing his hair.

**Author's Note:**

> Come check out my [original fiction,](https://jennifferwardell.wixsite.com/mybooks) my [blog,](http://jennifferwardell.blogspot.com) or say hi to me on [Tumblr](http://sanctuaryforalluniverses.tumblr.com)!


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